Percussion fuse for artillery and aircrft projectiles



Nov. 11, 1930. L. E. R'MGNDY PERCUSSION FUSE FOR ARTILLERY AND AIRCRAFT PROJECTILES Filed Feb. 13. 1930 Patented Nov. 11, i930` 1 t 1,781,556

LoN EMILE RivioNnY, on PARIS, FRANCE PERCUSSION FUSE For. ARTILLERY `inn AIR-citric PROJECTILES Appiication inea February is, 1930, sei-1&1 No. 428,189, ami in France April 29, 1929.

In previous specications, and in particu sensitiveness of the fuse. It will be under'- lar in U. S. Letters Patent Nos. 1,459,07 5 and stood in fact that the rigidity of the com- 1,562,054, the applicant has described and ilpressible bearing Vsleeve has the effect of lusti'ated numerous forms of construction of facilitating a deformation of the striker be- 5 a sensitive percussion fuse comprising a movfore it operates, which striker is itself easily 55 able carriage in Which the elements of the deformable. firing mechanism are contained (striker and Here the two main disadvantages Which percussion cap) one of these elementstthe have been recalled are entirely removed in front element, being most frequently rigid the new forni of construction of the percuswith the casing of the carriage and the carsion fuse operating by driving in and inertia, riage being retained if desired on the fuse constructed accordingto the general prinbody by a member suoli as a pin adapted to oiples of my prior specification No. 1,459,075, be broken easily under the effect of an impact and forming the subject of the present inwith an obstacle. VQH'GIOU- U f In specification No. 1,562,054, the applicant According to the invention a rigid striker has described forms of construction of a having a Wide or large diameter head forinsupersensitive fuse in which the height of lng the front element of the mechanism, bears the carriage and of its contents are reduced by means of this head on acorrespoiidiiig considerably on account of a particular mode flge O11 the carriage casing, which is of construction of the carriage casing and crimped, hooked or fixed oiil the said striker 10 of the fixed member of the firing mechanism. head.V Moreover, the carriage is set back The striker (fixed member) is engaged in u With respect to themouth of the fuse body stamping on which the other stamping formin order to forni a space between this mouth iugtiie body of the Carriage is eEeCtetL and the outer face ofthe flange on the firing l The fuse forming the Subject of this insystem, the mouth b eing closed by a ca p or a 'e5 vention presents features of great similarity dlphlgm preventing the direct ac tiOii 0f with that foiquiiig the Subject of that specifithe air on the striker system, While being sufcation No. 1,562,054, but it permits the varifiCleIltlY Weel? C0 lo@ L ble to break Aas the ous disadvantages of the latter to be over- TQSUI 0f 2111 impact W1th an obstacle even 3@ come, which disadvantages may in a good Wlh 011 Offelig 11m@ FeSlSfnCe The said enuinber of cases become very serious. In the @5LP als0 PBIDUS a preliminary settling of fuse forming the subject of specification No, soft oi' loose materials such as grass, leaves,

1,562,054, the striker which is the front mem inoss, etc. to be caused which settling causes ber formed by a stamping, receives the direet the carriage to be driven in more strongly for` action of the air duringthe flight of the ODBIutlng thefuse'. h a5 prejeetiie7 thus permitting a'eempressieu 0f .L The invention finally provides 11i one of the compressible sleeve on Whieh the etti-mage its forms of construction, a particular shape presses and placing the members of the firing for the Washer which is provided with tenons ueeiienigm in e relatively tiefeetive position and is placed on the percussion cap, the new Withiv the risk of producing misres when an Washer permitting the length and the Weight ce obstacle is struck. Moreover the formation 0f the- Stlllel SXHSIII to be reduced.

of the striker by a stamping from a light Various practical embodiments of the -inmetel Such as aluminium 0r iii aluminium vention are illustrated in the accompanying alloy does not permit this member to be dll'vvllg.

given the desired rigidity. In order t0 re- Figure 1 slioivsa first form iii longitudinal move the two above mentioned disadvantages Sectional elevation. it has been sought to increase somewhat the Figure is a plan section taken along the strength of the compressible material formliiie'2i2 in Figure 1. Q

Y ing a support for the carriage, but this result Y Figure 3 Shows the position of the mem- 53 is then obtained to the detriment of the bers When the fuse operates, the pro]ecti1e ice Yie Figure 7 shows a form of construction olfA a damping member for the percussion cap in combination with the fuse. f

ln all these examples the striking system oi. the fuse is formed in accordance with the principlewhich the applicant has made known, by a movable carriage comprising a casing A; carrying a striker B fixed in the latter, the percussion cap C movable 'in the casing body, a spacinF ring l) between the two elements of the ring mechanism and bearing at one end on the head of the striker and at the other end on a washer E provided with lugs e guided on the casing bodyvA by` slots tu By means of these lugs e the carriage body bears when at rest on a shoulder G1 on the fuse body. The fuse comprises also vin accordance with the principle which the ap.- plicant has made known in specification No. 1,562,054, which is a patentrotl addition toY speciiication No. 1,459,075, a sleeve F of a suitable compressible and elastic material such as cork, felt, etc

' According to the present invention the wide headed striker B is made rigid by construction, and bears .by the shoulder b, of this head upon a corresponding iiange al on the carriage casing. The headl of the striker and the flange on the carriage upon which it bears may be made rigid with each other by crimping, as shown in the drawing, by hooking or by any other suitable method of attachment.

'lh-e rigid flange ot the head of the striker lined with its support al formed by the carriage body, bears upon the front face of the compressible sleeve F.

According to the present invention space m is provided between the front 'face ot the carriage Vand the mouth G2 of the fuse body e G, and this mouth is closed by a cap or a diaphragm. ln the example shown in Figures l and 3, the mouth is closed by a cap H which prevents the direct action of the air on the striking system while being weak enough to fracture upon impactr against an obstacle even one oflering little resistance.

As shown in Figure 3, in the case when the projectile falls on an obstacle of low density, formed tor example by grass, leaves, moss, etc., the closing cap in breaking causes this material to be rammed in, which ram-ming action causes the carriage to be driven in more strongly for operating the fuse. lt will be understood that with low residual speeds, at the moment of impact, it is neces- `theretme,be placed-on an elasticsleeve Fof very small initial tension, with a view to making. the Vvfuse extremely sensitive in operation without there 'being any fear of the fuse becoi'ning partly or totally uncooked by the carriage being driven in under the action of the ain Naturally the space must be sutcientlyv large for the cap to be able, even at very high 5j speeds, to yield without breaking and without driving thecarriage in, as shown inrdotted lines in Figure 1.

ln the example shown in Figure 4, the function ofthe cap H is erformed by 'a diaphragm l mounted at a suitable distance-Q0 from the front face or edge of the carriage A; Thisldiaphragm may be employed alone or in kcombination with a removable cap J.` The cap J mayas desired be removed at the momentotiring, or left on the projectile ac" cording-to the uses envisaged. rlfhus thelcap may if desired be preserved in normal iield artillery Firing; ltwill beremoved Jfor firing upon aircraft and for firing with very low residual speeds.,k f

The form of constructionshown in Figures 5 and 6 is characterized by the Jfeature'that the lug washer ll-e is formed in a particular manner. The lugs e, provided'with a foot el arebent over parallel to the axis of the carriage and the body of the lug is thus engaged in the apertures a.

Y'The lugs press upon the shoulder G1 provided on the fuse body by means of feet e1. The lugs thus takev support at a distance from the body of the ring e corresponding to the whole height of the body of the lugs e. This permits the whole height of the `carriage casingAto be shortened Vby the whole height or thelug'e. Consequently the weight and space occupied bythe whole of the mechanisin are reduced.

The i'eet el, instead of taking support at any point on the shoulder G1 may be engaged lio injnotches jc/.l in this shoulder, the engage Y ment of the feet g1 being obtained net join-t provided in thefshoulder The fuse described,`mounted at a suitable distance from a cap H or a diaphragm I, may'A naturally be combined with a varyingnumber of caps o r diaphragms arrangedr in stages or suit-ably superposed at a distance fromv each 'otherfand in this way, according bg a bayo- The caps or diaphragme may be employed Vat the same time if desired, to make the device ,fluid tight, but they must be designed in such a way as to provide vin addition the three new functions set forth above, which consist in providing an additional safety element, a screen against the action of the air, and a member for obtaining a preliminary compression of the obstacle.

The caps or covers should preferably be constructed of a material of low density.

As this general purpose fuse is capable of boing lired from cannon or machines giving rise to very high accelerations, the applicant foresees the case when the considerable reactions at departure would cause the carriage body A to be fractured if the latter were constructed by mistake of a material of poor quality. This fracture would have the consequence of causing the percussion cap to be thrown back and strike violently against the end of its lodgement. In order to absorb the shock and avoid the accidental explosion of the percussion cap, a special safety member is provided at the back of the mechanism. This member may be formed by a conical, cylindrical or other shaped element secured in the fuse body, made of aI deformable plastic or elastic material such as a soft metal (aluminium, lead, copper not cold hardened, etc.) or of any other material (fibre, cork, felt, etc).

Figure 7 shows by way of eXample a member K for resiliently supporting the percussion cap, this member being made of a soft material and fitted in the fuse body in combination with the fuse.

Claims.

l. A supersensitive percussion fuse comprising a movable carriage (A) containing the elements of the firing mechanism (striker B and percussion cap C) with a spacing member (spring D) interposed between these members one of which, the front element (B) is virtually integral with the casing (A) of the carriage, which casing is pierced with apertures (a) through which the latter is guided on the lugs of a washer (E) bearing under the action of the spacing spring (D) on a shoulder (G1) on the fuse body (G), the fuse being characterized by the feature that the rigid striker forming the front element of the mechanism comprises a wide head b) bearing on a corresponding iiange (a1) on the .casing of the carriage, which flange is crimped, hooked or secured on the said head, the carriage bearing by means of the head of the striker covered or lined by the flange on the carriage on a sleeve F made of a compressible material (cork, felt or other suitable material having a veryV small initial compression) and the carriage thus constructed and supported being set back with respect to the mouth of the fuse body in order to form between this mouth and the outer face of the head on the percussion system of a. space (as), the Vmouth being however closed by a cap (H) or a diaphragm (I) of small mass preventing the'l direct action of the air upon the said percussion system, while being sufficiently Weak to be capable of breaking upon impact against an obstacle even against one offering little resistance, the said cap also permitting a preliminary settling of loose materials such as grass, leaves or humus, to be obtained upon impact with a view to driving the carriage in more strongly in order to operate the fuse.

2. A fuse according to claim 1in which the mouth of the fuse body is closed by a diaphragm (I), characterized by the feature that the latter is covered by one or more removable caps forming additional safety devices particularly during handling and transport.

3. Fuse as claimed in claim l, comprising a shock absorber for the percussion cap formed by a separate element made of a plas- 1 tic or elastic material.

In testimony whereof I have signed this speciiication.`

LoN EMILE REMONDY. 

